Go Hogging In The City Of Water
July 18th, 2007 at 01:19pm Under Videos+ Amsterdam
Amsterdam due to its location and proximity to two of the premier beer-drinking nations in Europe - Belgium, where modern beer was more or less invented, and Germany, famous for its beer consumption, is a great city to go drinking in. As for eating, this may not be Europe’s culinary capital, but there’s a good choice of ethnic restaurants, especially Indonesian, Chinese and Thai, and the prices compared to other big-city standards are quite reasonable. Amsterdam’s tradition of cafes and bars serving adventurous food for a good price in a relaxed and modest setting is a huge advantage too.
Dutch mealtimes are a little eccentric. Breakfast tends to be later than what generally a person might expect, and other meals times are earlier than expected. If one chooses to eat breakfast out of the hotel, then very few cafes are open before 8 or 8.30am. The typical Dutch lunch hour is from noon to 1pm, and dinner time in most restaurants is between 7 and 8pm, quite a few restaurants stop serving by 10pm.
Though quite small in size, Amsterdam is filled with places to eat and drink. There is always somewhere convenient and enjoyable to suit everyone’s budget. Weekends tend to get busy so for eating out at a favorite joint it is advisable to have a booking or geo early before the rush hour. Throughout the city there are plenty of good restaurants scattered all over the city, and in much of the centre one can find a bar on almost every corner.
Dutch restaurant food has higher protein content than imagination. The staple diet is the steak, chicken and fish, along with filling soups and stews… Many places offer dagschotels - dish of the day, generally available for as long as the restaurant is open- a meat and two vegetable combinations.
A wide selection of vegetarian restaurants offer full-course set meals which are quite reasonable. Another inexpensive stand-by is Italian food - pizzas and pasta dishes start at a fairly uniform in all but the ritziest places. Chinese and Thai restaurants are also common, as well as the Spanish ones, all of which serve well priced, filling food. But Amsterdam’s real area of expertise is its Indonesian restaurants, a consequence of the country’s imperial adventures. One can eat nasi goreng and bami goreng meaning rice or noodles with meat are ever-present dishes, and chicken or beef in peanut sauce -sateh is available everywhere too. Alternatively, order a rijsttafel: boiled rice and/or noodles served with a number of spicy side dishes and hot sambal sauce on the side.
In bars one can get sandwiches and rolls frequently open and varying from a simple slice of cheese to something so overstated that it’s a complete meal - as well as more substantial fare. Dutch classics include broodje halfom, a roll with a combination of thinly sliced salted beef and liver eaten with mustard, and broodje warm vlees, thinly sliced warm pork served with sateh sauce. The way to eat in Amsterdam is through the local style. Though not what is one used to but certainly quite a tempting fare.
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